


A Glass Moon

by Interrobam



Category: Bambi - All Media Types, Little Mermaid (1989)
Genre: Background Hetero, Beards, Community: disney_kink, F/F, First Love, Happy Ending, Lesbian Character, Self-Discovery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-19
Updated: 2012-07-19
Packaged: 2017-11-10 07:14:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/463627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Interrobam/pseuds/Interrobam
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ariel had been with the Prince for two months when she first saw something in the curve of a woman's neck which was strange and new. It was something sensual, something she had never seen in Eric's body, and it called to her body in turn. Frightened, she looked away from the Duchess' throat, and the dinner continued around her as if her life had not been irrevocably changed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Glass Moon

Ariel had been with the Prince for two months when she first saw something in the curve of a woman's neck which was strange and new and which called to her body in turn. She looked away from the Duchess' skin and the dinner continued on as if her life had not been irrevocably changed. She picked at her pheasant, she herself a stunned animal, as all around her the royal flattery flied. When it was over she and Eric saw the Duke and Duchess to their carriage and Ariel looked long and hard at the woman's throat to verify that yes, there was still something there, some feeling, but it was not as strong and not as certain as it had been before. Ariel felt at that moment as if her sight had failed her, she felt that this sensuality was something that needed to be tasted with a tongue.

That night she slept fitfully and dreamed deep of a fable her mother once told her before her death. She found herself in the sea again, without her tail yet able to breathe, among a school of fish. It was inky night and they danced together in the reflection of the moon. They felt a sudden, looming presence: a ship, and the school withdrew, intent on exploring along a different path of water. Then, like a strike of lightning, there was a bright, round glow from above. Ariel looked up into it, eager. She knew this tale, even in the half function of her sleeping mind, and she was eager to see it to it's end. She heard her mother's voice, an echo in the ocean.

“This moon all in glass glowed with a light that surpassed the original, it was like nothing before seen in the sea. It was a strange human magic Ariel.” The glow of the moon had attracted the school of fish, and others besides. They began to frenzy. Then, as a whisper, her own past voice joined in.

“Mama, was it beautiful?” By then the sea was a froth of scales and fins, hypnotized beasts writhing in need, fawning for the attention of the light. They pressed, suffocatingly close, all against Ariel. Yet she hardly felt them, for the brightness was so fair, so strong, that her face was hot with it.

“It was child,” Ariel closed her eyes, the moon was as clear as day despite it. She could not even feel the nets close around them. “, and dangerous too.”

The next morning her handmaiden brushed and plaited her hair, and Ariel was hypnotized in turn by her appled cheeks in the mirror, the feel of her fingers as they brushed the thin skin at the back of her neck. There was a strange new force, a sensual undertow, in the Princess' life, it deepened and deepened as she watched her servant's reflection tending to her with new eyes and new intent. It frightened her, but it was an excited type of fear: a jumpy, eager fear. She was impatient for something to happen, but unsure what she was awaiting. As she left her room for the dining hall, she contemplated her sudden revelations dreamingly.

Her duty was to the Prince, of course, but he had been kind to her naivete, her unsure hands and awkward legs, like a new crab's. He would be kind, she was certain, while she tried to understand another facet of her body. When she sat down to breakfast with him, her plaited hair woven with pearls and the smell of her handmaiden's perfume, she was uncertain what to say. Could he tell her apart from the girl her married, the girl she had been before the Duchess had turned to laugh and she had felt something there in her that her husband did not have? She forced herself to chew slowly.

“I was thinking of going to the park this afternoon.” She spoke into her porridge. Eric nodded, smiling generously at his wife.

“That sounds like a wonderful idea Ariel. I'll have the kitchen pack you a picnic basket?”

“A picnic would be very nice, thank you.” She looked at him and felt guilt imprinted upon their relationship, like cracks in enameled stoneware. They ate together in silence.

The cook gave her a generous basket of dried meats and cheeses, a bottle of wine, bread, and an apple. It was not a meal to eat alone; and when she accepted it she felt the faults in her enamel and worried that they were as clear to Eric as they were to her. Pushing aside her worries, she took the basket on her arm and set off to the park. It was nestled on the northernmost corner of their grounds, not far from the castle, where the woods began. There was a garden, a pebbled path, and a fountain of naked cupids there: oftentimes the villagers would visit it and take their own picnics, or else let their children roam. Ariel trusted it to be deserted at the moment, for by then the hour was close to supper, and the air was humid and hot. She ate the apple as she walked, humming a tune of the sea, until the time came that she was before the park gates with a core in her hand.

She laid her blanket on the grass, in view of the frolicking marble children, and buried the apple seeds in the ground. The plants on land were curious things to her, and she was eager to watch and see if a tree would soon grow. The thought that the seeds might sprout, might come to outlive her, tickled the Princess. She stared across the park, nostalgic, and her worries crept back into her mind. How had this happened? This warping of her stars? She had never seen anything so sensual in her sisters, but they were blood, and that was to be expected. What other friends had she? Flounder, Scuttle, Sebastian at a stretch. Her daguerreotypes and her dinglehoppers. No mermaids her age. And what of Eric? She pondered Eric, the Prince, guilty and angry at herself, chewing on the hard rind of her bread. All the landbound things promised to her with him, all of the kindness and bravery he had shown on that ship in the storm, how could she be expected to let him die at the bottom of the sea? How could she be expected to let herself die the same with such an opportunity presented to her? All of the excitement and blood that had covered those first days, all of the learning and wondering of the next weeks, she feared that she had only just settled into her thoughts. She wondered if, once she had become content, her innermost sex had surfaced, like coral buried in sand. Then again, she wondered if it was something about the humanity of their bodies. With their split legs and heavy hair, were they the body she needed for herself? She remembered dreaming about a fable, some long lost song about a moon that the humans used to capture fish. As a child she had never feared it, though she knew she should have. She had been eager for the surface, for the land. Her desire now was like that glass moon, some powerful force she suspected she should fear, but could not bear to. Her bread finished, she kicked off her shoes, curling up on the blanket to slumber. A light breeze tickled her cheek, birdsong echoed around her. Sleep came easily.

“Princess.” She started awake. The park was dim and cool, her muscles tense. She looked up to see a woman with tawny hair and blue eyes smiling down at her. “It grows late. You mustn’t sleep here tonight, my forest is dangerous after the twilight.” Ariel sat up cautiously.

“Who are you?”

“Faline, Groundskeeper of the forest.” Her smile is so heady, Ariel can feel the pull of it.

“Ah.” She tucked a lock of her red hair behind her ear, nervous “My apologies, I have not been able to meet all of the staff of the castle yet.” Faline shrugged.

“I live in the forest, in a cabin. I do not come into the castle much.” She cocked her head “You have food?”

“Yes, and wine. Would you like some? There is too much for me.”

“I would like that very much Princess.” So heady, worse than the wine it was, this smile bent on ruining her judgment.

“Please,” Ariel's smile spread shyly “Just call me Ariel.”

Faline had worked for the castle for three years, and before that time she had lived, according to her evasive words and vague hand gestures, “around”. She told Ariel of her cabin and its nearby pond, with green scum at the edges and a racket of frogs living about it. In the spring, when the biting ivy and hemlock grew too close to the park, she culled it back. She kept the water clear, the animals well, for the payment of a place to live and free range to hunt on castle grounds. Faline knew the forest like her own hand, every animal and plant that grew in it, every pattern and mood of its behavior. Ariel listened with rapt attention and told her briefly of her own daily routines: reading in the library and learning about the politics of the court. She was surprised how easy it was for her to speak with Faline, how quickly the desire for body subsided and the slow warmth of comforting company grew. She was picking up embroidery, she told the groundskeeper, and improving quickly. She held particular interest in cataloging with thread all of the strange creatures of the forest: the deer and the badger, the honeybee and the oak leaf. Faline wondered aloud what kind of kingdom she had come from, to not know embroidery or the names of the flowers. Ariel laughed like a cornered animal and told her it was a far one. Very, very far. Faline grinned, her hands upon the knees of her crossed legs.

“If you wish, Ariel, I shall teach you about the flora and fauna of your new kingdom.”

“Oh, that would be delightful.” Ariel clasped her hands, smiling. “But it is too close to nightfall now, I must go back to the castle before Eric-” she started, as if having accidentally revealed something, although she knew consciously that it was silly to think Faline did not know her married to the Prince “, before everyone worries about me. Shall we picnic tomorrow instead?”

“That would be lovely.” Ariel stood up, putting the scraps of her dinner back into the basket. Faline gripped her arm, sudden and strong with labor. “What are you sewing now?”

“Calla Lilies.” Ariel murmured, shy from her touch. 

“Don't leave just yet.” Faline stood up on thin legs and bound off towards the gardens. Ariel watched the groundskeeper disappear into the trees, gathering her things. She folded the blanket and stuffed it into the basket before self consciously rearranging her hair. She waited, looking back to the castle. Already there was light in the windows.

“Here.” Ariel jumped, turning to Faline, who had come silently behind her, two Calla Lilies in hand. “This is for your study.” She handed the first one to the Princess, who flushed happily.

“It's beautiful-”

“And this is for your hair.” Ariel froze, stunned, as Faline reached out to tuck the second flower behind her ear. Her hand was calloused, it lingered at the spot where neck became jaw before trailing much slower than need be down her cheek. “Ariel.” Faline's eyes were dangerously blue, her smile dangerously bright. Ariel had flashes of her dream. The groundskeeper kept her hand on the Princess' chin, her finger brushing her lower lip. “I'll see you tomorrow.” Ariel could only nod, could only watch as she ran off into the twilight.

She danced all the way home, her basket light on her arm, and it was only when she came to the castle gates that she realized she had forgotten her shoes in the park.

When they met together the next day Faline had her shoes in her hand and that smirk on her face. They ate pears together and Faline taught her the tracks of a rabbit and the blush of ripe apples. They met again the day after that, and the day after that, for nearly a month. The Princess brought her picnic basket, Faline supplied the berries and fruits of the season. Ariel began to wear a shawl over her hair, to cover the stark red color that labeled her royal. She liked that, it was almost as if she weren't a princess: of neither land nor water. They spoke with one another of many things. Ariel brought news of politics between nations, samples of her embroidery and her sketches. She gave Faline her first, sloppy sampler, there were Calla Lilies in the border and the groundskeeper adored it. Faline told of the health and humors of her animals, and also of the things in bloom. She brought Ariel flowers and leaves to press in her books. Ariel was fascinated by her partner's creatures, resplendent in their furs and cloven hooves, waving not in the currents but in the breeze. Faline was patient with her questions, eager to share her world. It was not long before the princess knew the footprints of a bear and the taste of honeysuckle like she once knew kelp and the distant song of a whale. With time their conversations turned intimate, their picnic blanket moved deeper into the cover of forest.

One day, when the hour was very hot and drowsy, Faline invited her back to her cabin, to the pond. At the edge of the water Faline made short work of the lacing down the front of her dress, and Ariel watched breathlessly as the fabric pooled around her ankles. At that moment Ariel was certain. All doubts, all fears of envy in her love, were gone. For this was not the body she needed for her own: it was the body she needed pressed against hers. Confident Faline, gay hearted Faline, stepped backwards into the pond, her deadly blue eyes on Ariel as the water swallowed her to her hips.

“It's nice.” She smirked “It's cold.” Ariel, hypnotized by that smile, raised her hands to the collar of her dress.

Faline had freckles all about her body. They made for a stern contrast to Ariel's paleness, as did Faline's hair against her's. Both women felt the combination a lovely sight as they disrupted the surface tension together. The water was indeed cold, and there were flecks of pond scum about, but Ariel did not mind, it gave her an excuse to press closer to her lover's body, to rub hands to skin. Faline was not of experience, but she was enthusiastic in her explorations and Ariel savored the distance between her lover and her husband. The curve of her neck, the movement of her fingers, the subtle heft of her hips. They stirred silt into the water and gasps into the air. They exalted and exhausted one another.

Afterwards, they laid together at the muddy edge of the pond, bodies patched with pond scum and clay, entangled. Cattails surrounded them, waving in the warm summer breeze.

“Would you believe...” Ariel's voice was breathless as she turned her head to her lover's. “That three months ago I was a mermaid, but I fell in love with a Prince and gave a sea witch my voice for legs?” Faline smirked, wiggling her nose.

“Would you believe that three years ago I was a doe, but I fell in love with a village woman, and a blue faery turned me human?” Ariel cocked her head, curious.

“What happened to the woman?”

“She did not love me in return.” Faline's blue eyes grew heavy for a brief, flickering moment, and her smile became bittersweet.

“If she did not love you, why are you still human?” 

“The faery... said to be patient. And what of you?” The woman's eyes were bright again, her smile charismatic, as she sat up, allowing Ariel to admire the swell of her breasts, the arch of her throat “What happened to the Prince?” Ariel shifted her legs uncomfortably, turning away from the nakedness of the animal beside her.

“...I'm not certain of that yet.” Faline watched her with dancing eyes, moving over the redhead like a predator, skin against skin, thigh to thigh. She bowed her head to the Princess' ear.

“My little fish.” She whispered hot and so very wet “Allow me to seduce you away from him.”

~ 

Ariel was honest by blood, and it was not long before her secret began to grate at her, before the guilt she felt for Eric threatened to consume her. One night, more than a month after that first picnic, Ariel gave confession to her husband. When she recounted her second life to the Prince, they were alone in bed, and she cried into her hands as she hadn't since her father had discovered and dismembered her cavern. She told him of the Duchess' neck and the handmaiden's hands. She told him of Faline's dancing eyes and magnetic smile. She told him she was in love, but not with him. Until that time she had not let herself fear his reaction, only her own secret potential, her own secret needs. She was dearly frightened then, for these were not feelings for a woman to have, and she still loved the Prince so that she did not wish to hurt him, but he went all too far in his understanding. As she confessed to him he reached over to wipe the tears from her cheeks and she looked blearily into his eyes, remembering how she had admired him: the only living specimen in her collection, her bridge to the world over water. Her legs, she knew with that cracked enamel guilt, had been more for her liberty than his love, but when he rubbed his hand to her back and told her it would be alright, for the both of them, she discovered something new about him as well. She knew the way he looked at her, his touch on her crab's legs, for what it was. For what was she to him but a debt to be repaid? For what was she but a little girl desperate for a new life, and he but a man who owed life to her? She recalled how he had wavered between her and Ursula, doubting the length and depth of his debt. Everything was so clear then, as if all the silt had settled in her mind. He was a man of his word and his obligation, a Prince.

“You've done so much for me.” Her voice was cracking, almost in laughter. “I'm so sorry Eric.”

“Ariel.” He held her hands in his, she recalled their wedding like an old, half forgotten scar. “You've done just as much for me. Have you already forgotten how you pulled me out of the sea and saved my life? What kind of man would I be to punish you in a loveless marriage?” His eyes were so warm with relief that Ariel could remember clearly how she had fallen for him, so kind and so brave. 

She laid her head upon his shoulder and laughed deeply in relief.

~ 

Theirs is an old kingdom, and even as it flirts boldly with modernity Princes and Princesses still wed eternally, and women do not see erotic things in other women's necks. Their beds are separate, their throne without an heir, but their marriage is filled with genuine affection, for they had been through desperate straits together, so destined by the stars to save one another. From death, from loneliness, from loveless lives. In this way they are a thousand times more fortunate than many in their stations. Affairs are quietly tolerated for Princes, so Eric, free from debts and political provisions, is free to pursue his own lover. He has found a woman who lives by the seaside, a woman with a dark sailor's tan and wild brown hair. She is bold and audacious, she shares the Prince's blood deep love of the sea. In the summers they sail together across the water so that her tan deepens and his begins. Wholly inappropriate for a Prince to marry, Ariel has met this sailor woman and knows that Eric and she are in a deeper love than he could have found in any arranged marriage. She wishes them love and happiness for the rest of their lives, and has told them as much.

Ariel has her own love and happiness. She lives in a cabin in the forest: her name is Faline. She can name every plant and animal in nature and step quiet as a faun through the grass. She has sparkling eyes, freckled skin, and a smile like a glass moon.


End file.
